The Unusual Half-Blood

Chapter 12: Defective

By the time we reached the diner, it was 8: 00 p.m. The War god was waiting for us in the parking lot.

"Well, well. You didn't get yourself killed. Good for you, I guess," He said, extending his arm towards us.

I tossed him the shield. Ares grabbed and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest which he slung across his back.

"See that truck over there? That's your ride." He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. It had a sign on the back which read: KINDNESS INTER-NATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.

"You've got to be kidding" Annabeth sighed.

Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck was unlatched. "It's a free ride west. Stop complaining and learn to show some fu*king gratitude. Also, here's a little something for doing the job."

He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to me. Inside were fresh clothes for all of us, 100 bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuffed Oreos.

"Can't have you going around, telling people that I'm a Heartless brute now can I?"

I was about to sling it over my shoulder when something peculiar caught my attention.

This bag..........from what I could sense, it wasn't just an ordinary item. It was enchanted.

It appeared to be some type of magical storage space, disguised as a backpack...........

"What? Something wrong?" Ares asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you expected to receive a legendary weapon for completing a fetch quest?"

"No, not at all. We appreciate the gift, Lord Ares." I replied calmly as I passed it over to Annabeth.

"Whatever, now as I was saying, in a few hours, this truck is gonna be at the Lotus casino in Vegas. Hermes hangs out there. You play your cards right and his personal driver can get you to LA in minutes." Ares said as he sat down and kickstarted his bike.

"Back at the diner," I asked, "You mentioned that our quest was hopeless."

He grinned. "That's because, behind the whole fiasco with the master bolt, there is a bigger picture involved, punk. Sure, my father wants his precious weapon back. But he also craves dominance more than anyone. Regardless of who stole the bolt, this incident has given him a reason to attack Poseidon. So right now, he is much more interested in a war than the lightning bolt."

I see. If that was true, then it wouldn't matter even if we succeeded in our quest. Because either way, a war was inevitable.

"Out of all the Olympians, Poseidon is the only one who can somewhat match Zeus in strength. That's why, he wants to subdue him before that could happen." Ares said, seemingly excited at the prospect of a civil war.

"Wait a minute. So, you're telling us that there's nothing we can do about it?" Annabeth retorted.

"My father thinks it's time for a war, so we're gonna have a war. It's as simple as that. That's why I Love this family so much. Man, there's nothing that gets your blood pumping like a good bloodbath between family members." Ares replied, with an ominous grin. "Anyways, that's all I had to say. You're free to continue west and risk your meaningless lives for nothing. Or you could go back to your little haven and chill out, waiting for the inevitable. It hardly makes a difference to anyone."